WASHINGTON - Republicans, including two from Texas, are offering immigration reform measures in the waning weeks of the lame-duck session in what some call a move toward compromise and others say is a "cynical political gesture."

Retiring Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., introduced legislation Tuesday to provide legal standing for young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors by their parents.

San Antonio Rep. Lamar Smith is making a final push for legislation designed to increase visas for high-skilled immigrants through a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, jobs bill.

The bills come after Republican candidates struggled to garner votes from Latinos in the general election earlier this month, forcing the GOP to reevaluate its stance on immigration reform.

The so-called Achieve Act creates a three-tier system for illegal immigrants of "good moral character" under the age of 28 who were brought to the U.S. before the age of 14 to obtain legal standing while pursuing higher education or military service.

Hutchison stressed the importance of "getting the ball rolling" on comprehensive reform.

"We know that there are children in our country who have been brought here illegally by their parents," she said. "We think the best step that we can take to address an issue that is very timely is to give a legal status that would be earned."

The proposal by Hutchison and Kyl resembles the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or Dream, Act penned in 2001, but without a direct path to full citizenship.

Texas Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, was skeptical of the measure and said it was too little, too late.

"This could have been more timely and meaningfully had it been done in the spring when Sen. Rubio was making every indication he was trying to get Republicans on board for the Dream Act," Gonzalez said. "If this had been initiated and introduced at that time, it would have been a catalyst."

Smith's legislation also failed to win bipartisan House passage earlier this year, but he is hoping to win more Democratic votes this time by tacking on a provision that allows families of high-skilled workers to remain in the United States while awaiting their own green cards.

Some analysts say Smith's narrow approach also is inadequate to solve the immigration problem.

Latinos want "comprehensive immigration reform, not just for those who are highly educated," University of North Texas political scientist Valerie Martinez-Ebers said. "A majority of the people who want to come to this country are not educated, not highly qualified and don't go to skilled jobs. The problem is with those fleeing their countries for a better life who are mostly uneducated and don't have jobs."